Time transcripts of DeGuireCaptioned
[00:00:00:00] Q: Alright, we’re now recording, if you could give us your name and current occupation.
[00:00:05:25] A: My name is Adam De Guire. I am currently a student at the Ohio State University
[00:00:11:23] Q: What are you studying?
[00:00:13:04] A: I am studying computer and information science
[00:00:15:06] Q: Ok, Adam, do you have a story to share?
[00:00:17:16] A: Yes, I do. My geography literacy story relates to when I was in eighth grade.
[00:00:23:23] There was this one kid in my class… kind of a clown, liked to brag a lot.
[00:00:32:07] He was a fun guy. So, in eighth grade he was bragging to one of the teachers
[00:00:37:08] that he could name all of the states and capitals.
[00:00:40:22] The teacher was like, “Yeah right.” So, she gave him a quiz.
[00:00:44:15] Turns out he only knew like twenty of them and none of the capitals.
[00:00:49:05] But, that kinda has stuck with me because
[00:00:53:14] I remember we studied the states and their capitals in fourth grade.
[00:00:57:19] So, it had been a while since I had learned them, and I had mostly forgotten them.
[00:01:04:26] And, it struck me, like “Oh, people actually care that you know this stuff.”
[00:01:09:14] It’s important to remember where Iowa is or you know.
[00:01:15:03] Ever since then, I think, is when I really started to pay attention to geography
[00:01:21:01] and where things are in relation to other things.
[00:01:23:09] I mean, I know where the states and most of their capitals are, but also like,
[00:01:28:02] in my hometown. You know. I was paying attention to like,
[00:01:31:09] “Oh, this town’s on the West side, and that’s right off of this highway.
[00:01:34:19] And, oh! That’s just north of this other suburb that I know somebody lives in.”
[00:01:38:08] I kind of made a point to be aware of what the geography of the area I’m in is.
[00:01:47:03] Or whenever I’m traveling, I want to know where I am in relation to things that I know are.
[00:01:54:21] So, if I’m traveling to a city in Indiana I’ve never been to, it’s like,
[00:01:59:15] “Ok, is that North or South of Indianapolis? Like, where is that? And, I know where I am in the state.”
[00:02:04:20] Q: So how is that kind of experience changed your experience of travel
[00:02:09:20] in locating yourself on a map and reading roads signs.
[00:02:14:04] Is there any kind of distinct factor?
[00:02:17:05] A: Umm, I think. Well, one of the other things is that I tie it in a lot with people that are there, in a way.
[00:02:25:29] And that relates to high school. I had a teacher that was big on world geography.
[00:02:32:18] And that, in my mind I had connected the stuff we were learning in that history class with geography.
[00:02:39:07] So, if I were to travel to France, I would be thinking about like,
[00:02:44:03] “Oh, these are the same people that had to deal with Napoleon.”
[00:02:47:19] It’s not so much like, sure I’ll notice the roadmaps and stuff,
[00:02:52:29] but that just gives an idea about the historical background, the culture,
[00:02:57:08] or what I should expect when I’m there.
[00:02:59:21] Or, to put it on a more local level, let's say I'm going to visit
[00:03:05:09] A suburb that I know is really affluent. That will change the way I interpret
[00:03:10:21] what I see there. Like, "Oh man, this place really is nice."
[00:03:14:01] or, "I kinda was expecting more."
[00:03:16:12] Q: Ok. I want to revisit the combination of geography and history that you mention.
[00:03:23:26] So, when you were going to history classes,
[00:03:26:16] do you know, when you were reading a textbook, for example,
[00:03:30:25] do you have a map going on in your head where if someone invades another country,
[00:03:36:09] you have that image in your head of map?
[00:03:39:16] A: Definitely, definitely. Part of it was, this class was about European history
[00:03:44:08] and part of it was the names get all mixed up, like,
[00:03:48:04] “Ok, why… why does it matter that this person’s invading here.” You know, so.
[00:03:52:26] One instance that I remember was… I can’t remember the name of the war, but, anyway,
[00:03:59:26] Prussia was invading France, or they were fighting for some reason. So it was like,
[00:04:04:06] Ok, Prussia’s modern day Germany and France is… aren’t they kind of far apart?”
[00:04:10:19] But, no, they’re actually really close and share a border. But they seem so different.
[00:04:17:16] They speak different languages, different backgrounds...
[00:04:21:09] Germany is a lot more mountainous. France has more farmland, more plains.
[00:04:27:21] It’s less rocky and castles and stuff. More palatial and like luxury.
[00:04:35:03] But, Germany, always struck me as kind of forests, mountains. It’s a bit more of a harsh area.
[00:04:43:02] So you know it’s more practical. You do what you need to do to survive.
[00:04:46:25] So I was thinking about this particular war,
[00:04:50:28] and I just had to remember to remind myself that geographically they’re pretty close.
[00:04:57:16] So, despite the fact that their cultures are completely different.... there’s still some motivation.
[00:05:07:10] So, it’s not like if the United States were to invade. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter so much now.
[00:05:13:09] But, you’re more likely to conflict with your neighbors.
[00:05:17:20] So, if Prussia was invading Egypt, it’d be like, “What the hell is wrong with you people?
[00:05:24:00] You traveled through Italy across the Meditarranean Sea
[00:05:27:21] just to fight a battle and gain some land? What’s the point of that?”
[00:05:32:08] But, fighting your neighbor, that makes a lot more sense.
[00:05:37:01] So you have to aware of where things are to make sense of things.
[00:05:42:16] Q: Thank you for sharing your story. A: You're welcome.